Stoughton police seek man who dropped gun, fled gas station

Wednesday

STOUGHTON — A man dropped his Ruger during a gas-station altercation, police said, then fled the scene before picking it up.

Stoughton police are now seeking the public’s help in identifying the man after the Saturday incident in the Alltown Market at the Mobil gas station on Route 138. His weapon, a loaded .40-caliber Ruger later recovered by officers, had the serial number scratched off.

The man, pictured in security footage with a black hooded jacket and white T-shirt, was involved in a fight with two other people at the gas station around 11:50 p.m. Saturday, police said. During the altercation, the weapon fell from his pants.

The man then left the gas station, hopped in a car and took off.

Lt. John Bonney, the department’s spokesman, said police have identified the two other men involved in the fight, but continue to seek the man who left the weapon behind.

“We can’t assume that he doesn’t have a license to carry,” he said. “But you can’t be in possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number.”

Anyone with information on the identity of the man should call Stoughton police at 781-344-2424. People are asked to not approach the man.

This marks the second firearm that Stoughton police officers have recovered in about a month.

On April 13, officers recovered a Glock in the area of the Bell Apartment Complex. Police later determined the gun was stolen from an Atlanta police officer in 2016, and tied the weapon to 22-year-old Jalen Wilkinson.

Wilkinson was on the lam for about a month, and he was recently taken into custody in New Bedford, police said.